Claudia Taylor East, director of SOS Malta, stood up for poverty on Friday during a Parliamentary debate, asking searching questions about where the world is heading and whether the Millennium Development Goals are being reached.
One question she put forward was: “Should we stand up for poverty or act for poverty?” Giving some deplorable statistics, she addressed the big issues at hand pointing out that everyone knows what is needed so we should all combine forces and tackle each one.
Dr Omar Grech, a lecturer at the Mediterranean Academy of Diplomatic Studies, explained that the countries seem all too happy to unite against terrorism but not against poverty and the mentality of the world needs to change. As part of his brief presentation Grech showed an MTV advertisement which compared the death toll of the September 11 attacks to the daily death toll arising from world poverty. The controversial ad in question was banned from television.
Wanting to review the promises made at the turn of the millennium, Jacek Cukrowski, an MDG Advisor at UNDP Bratislava Regional Centre, said, “It is good that we are meeting half way through the time period to achieve the goals. We can see the progress made but also the need for more help.”
Journalist Vanya Walker-Leigh emphasised the part the media has to play. Everyone should take advantage of all the different forms of media now available in order to educate each other.
One of the largest problems seems to be that the public is generally unaware of the MDGs and this was echoed in several interventions during the debate. Most people, including the Minister of Education, felt that education should begin with children and the youth since they are the present and future.
Professor David Hulme, an associate director of the Chronic Poverty Research Centre, said, “It is not all bad news. The human condition is improving and most MDGs will be achieved by 2015. Poverty has been reduced from 33 per cent to 19 percent showing a rapid speed of decline since these MDGs were put into action.”

bcaruana@mediatoday.com.mt